Which driver holds the record for the longest gap between two podium finishes? To give you a clue, the gap was more than seven years.

Answers to #bbcf1 please.

All very quiet on track. Only Perez moving the Force India up to fourth place to report. The times are nowhere near what these cars are capable of.

I know, a spot of trivia will keep you awake. 

Momento. 

1 Raikkonen Ferrari 1:22.305 (61 laps)

2 Grosjean Haas 1:22.739 (68)

3 Verstappen Red Bull 1:22.949 (46)

4 Vandoorne McLaren 1:23.918 (43)

5 Bottas Mercedes 1:23.920 (40)

6 Perez Force India 1:24.893 (32)

7 Hulkenberg Renault 1:24.974 (51)

8 Giovinazzi Sauber 1:25.037 (53)

No other drivers have set timed laps.

Bottas improves to fourth place with a 1:23.9.

Vandoorne's McLaren and Red Bull's Verstappen are also out there. 

Dan Knutson
F1 journalist in Barcelona

Image source, Getty Images

Pirelli learned in today’s wet track testing what it already knew: more work is needed on the rain tyres. 

“We’ve learned what we needed to from the wet test in the sense that with the wider tyre we knew that the footprint is much greater, and the energy going in per square millimeter or centimeter is reduced,” Pirelli’s racing boss Paul Hembery said while talking with reporters in the paddock. 

“So switching on the compounds for the wet tyre was as difficult as had been imagined. So we know that we have some work to do yet in that area. We had already started in realty, and we were well down the way to doing that. But it confirmed today that switching on the compounds was something that we needed to improve on. So we are working on that.” 

He added: “It was very useful in the sense that wet testing is one of the most difficult things in the business because there really aren’t any facilities that give you controlled water,” he added. “We have Fiorano, which we have used once or twice. Elsewhere in the world they don’t exist. You have, as you saw, water tankers going around spraying water, which is not the most high-tech system that you can imagine! So there are limitations. 

“And in wet testing there are so many variables: temperature, surface condition, the amount of water. But we could still see there was an issue warming up the tyres, so it confirmed what we felt would be the case, and we are working on the solution.”

OK, so the track has dried out enough already.

Not due to cars driving on it, mind. The sun has burned it off. 

Bottas is out there on the soft Pirelli and has just done a 1:24.8, good for fifth place.  

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer

Image source, Getty Images

I know what you're all thinking. This is dreadful/pointless/boring. Well, yes, to a degree. Testing is not meant to be a spectator sport, though, and we're only here because of the huge interest ahead of any F1 season. 

And this has taken a day away from the teams in terms of learning about their cars, when time is already very short, given there are only eight days of testing. 

Really, though, this day is for Pirelli to see whether the work it has done on its much-criticised wet-weather tyres has improved them. The verdict is mixed. The drivers had no problems with the intermediate tyre last year but the 'extreme' was very unpopular for its inability to stop aquaplaning - Sebastian Vettel described it as "basically just good enough to follow the safety car". 

The problem is that the track, according to Nico Hulkenberg, has not been wet enough to test aquaplaning, although Romain Grosjean said that the tyre "generally was a good step up from last year". 

But Grosjean also said there may be an issue with the new intermediate: "The intermediates are really good for one lap and then they get destroyed a bit too early, so some work is to be done."

Perez's Force India was the only car on track until a few moments ago, when he peeled into the pits. 

All is silent.

Fair play to Haas - they've put in a decent shift today.

By the way, if you think Gabriele Tarquini had a rough F1 career, it's Perry McCarthy's 54th birthday tomorrow...

Image source, getty

Such is the lack of track action, I have time for frivolities.

So let's take the chance to wish a happy birthday to Gabriele Tarquini, who is 55 today. 

A veteran of 38 grand prix starts and 41 DNQs between 1987 and 1995, Tarquini's was not, alas, a stellar F1 career, although he did pick up a point at the 1989 Mexican Grand Prix driving for AGS.

He also had stints with Osella, Coloni, First and Fondmetal as well as a one-off outing for Tyrrell in 1995. 

He also has a cool helmet.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Right, thanks for all your comments on the Monaco GP today. It's a topic that certainly gets people fired up and I'd say, based on comments using the bbcf1 hashtag, that opinion is more or less split 50-50 on whether to revamp/ditch it or preserve it at all costs.  

Let's move on now and focus on this test. I think today can pretty much be chalked off due to the decision to water the track, but what of the three days leading up to this?

How do you see 2017 shaping up? Is it Mercedes all the way? Are Ferrari a genuine threat? Who is the most likely dark horse?

#bbcf1 please.